It was a bitterly cold night, and New Yorkers were still dealing with massive snow and ice removal from the massive winter storm that shut down the city three days earlier. Nevertheless, 14,361 fans were in attendance.
In pre-game discussions, fans continued to wonder about the Johnnies uncertainty at the point guard position. It was well known that forward Zuby Ejiofor is effective in feeding teammates as defenders swarm to him when he holds the ball. But who else can see the floor and pick out teammates in open positions?
One fan noted that Butler players seemed “lights out” when shooting from the corner in warm-ups but much less accurate from the top of the key. One wondered if this would play out in the game?
Just before the game began, Coach Pitino was given a short recognition for winning his 900th game on Saturday when the Johnnies came from behind in their away win at Xavier. He received a warm, standing ovation from the crowd.
First Half
The Johnnies opened the game with the same starting lineup they had deployed over the recent seven-game winning streak: Zuby Ejiofor, Bryce Hopkins, Dillon Mitchell, Oziyah Sellers, and Ian Jackson.
Butler came out in an aggressive 1-3-1 zone, challenging Red Storm guards as they came across midcourt. It did not take long for the Johnnies to diagnose it.
The scoring began when Ejiofor put back a Jackson miss for a 2-0 lead. A minute later, St. John’s was able to penetrate the Bulldog defense as Ejiofor fed Hopkins, who found Mitchell cutting toward the basket. A well-placed pass was grabbed by Mitchell, who slammed it home for a 4-0 lead at the 17:58 mark of the half. On the next possession, Sellers took down a Bulldog miss and hustled downcourt. Seeing an open Ejiofor sprinting across the court, he made a perfect lead pass, resulting in a Red Storm 6-0 lead. Good defense and a quintet of players cooperating with each other led to this early lead.
The Hopkins-to-Mitchell-to-Ejiofor interchange continued, and the Red Storm was up 18-5 with 11 minutes to play in the first half. The Johnnies were controlling the boards, and there were few open shots for Butler to take. This would not be a slow start like the Johnnies faced in the past two victories.
The only noticeable shortcoming for the Johnnies was their missed three-point attempts. And it was noticeable by fans and Butler. In response, Thad Matta instructed his team to drop their defense back to clutter the paint. Little by little, the Bulldogs clawed their way back into the game.
Once again, the Johnnies adjusted. A fan commented. “Great performance today. We have only to hit a couple of threes to keep them honest.” Reserve forward, Sadiku Ibine Ayo, seemed to be listening, hitting the Johnnies’ first trey of the game, extending the lead to eight with four to play in the half. After shooting 0-of-7 from deep in the first seventeen minutes, the Red Storm went on a tear – converting five threes, including Ayo’s make, to stake a halftime lead of 43-29.
Halftime
Fans agreed that the first half was one of the best played of the year, particularly when the three-point shooters came alive. Most noticeable was the play of the defense, holding a Butler team, which had been scoring an average of 84 points a game during its recent three-game winning streak, to 29 points in the half. St. John’s outrebounded Butler in the first half, 25-15, and had 5 blocks to one for Butler. Equally impressive was the fact that the Red Storm only committed two turnovers.
Butler did hit 3-of-5 three-pointers from the corner, but was 1-of-5 from the top of the paint. The prophesying fan from the pregame conversation smiled as he pointed out this first-half statistic.
Second Half
Red Storm fans were clear: they believed that there would be no letdown, and they were correct. Even though the Bulldogs came out with a plan to hit their offensive boards, looking for some putbacks, the Johnnies were ready. The game became increasingly more challenging. Michael Ajayi, who had led the Bulldogs with nine points in the first half, fought hard to keep the Bulldogs in the game. Despite his efforts, Butler could only reduce their deficit to nine points on two separate occasions. As the game wore on, a balanced Red Storm team pushed their lead out to 75-53 on a Hopkins’ layup with seven minutes to play.
Joson Sanon had his strongest game in some time, scoring 13 points while hitting 5-of-7 shots, including a perfect 3-of-3 from long range. Dillon Mitchell had an admirable effort, scoring 14 points, taking down 13 rebounds, and contributing 4 assists.
Takeaway #1: St. John’s doesn’t have one true playmaker, but everyone is sharing the load
The assist leader of the Johnnies is Zuby Ejiofor with 3.3 assists per game. Fellow forwards Dillon Mitchell with 2.6 per game and Bryce Hopkins with 2.3 per game follow. The guards all trail behind: Darling with 2.2.per game, Sellers with 2.1, Jackson with 1.3, and Sanon at 0.6 assists per game. There is clearly a growing synchrony between the three forwards as the season wears on. Ejiofor, in particular, has good court vision and found cutting forwards, particularly against the 1-3-1 zone of Butler, under the basket for high percentage shots. He is also becoming more cognizant of teammates in the corners for open three-pointers.
In addition, the forwards are adept at setting screens for the guards, often up to twenty feet from the basket. What continues to evolve is the play of the guards, particularly Sanon and Jackson, who are skilled in breaking down their defender. They are developing a recognition when defensive support comes to challenge them, to make the pass to a now open teammate. There are times when this simply is the best plan instead of putting up a pressurized shot when confronted by a defender who has switched over.
As has been stated by Coach Pitino, in the world of today, when teams bring on seven or eight new players each year, the ability to see the court and where the best opportunities for open shots are evident is something that develops through hard work and practice. The Red Storm seems to be making progress in conquering these challenges.
Takeaway #2: The Red Storm defense suffocated Butler
How many times did Butler find themselves putting up a shot with five seconds or less on the shot clock and a Red Storm defender with a hand in the shooter’s face? It appeared to be quite frequent. In addition, each team had thirteen offensive rebounds in the game, but the Johnnies took down 28 defensive rebounds, while for Butler it was only 18 defensive boards. The Johnnies took down 68% of the misses, which opened the door to fast breaks and significant open shots on the offensive end.
The game was mostly turnover-free. The Johnnies had five turnovers, and Butler had six. Butler averaged 83 points per game and, for the second time this year, the Red Storm held them to seventy.
The addition of Dillon Mitchell to the starting lineup and getting more playing time has been a big factor, particularly as a defensive stopper when opponents tried to break down Johnnies defenders. Between Mitchell and Ejiofor, the Red Storm has two strong defenders who can quickly rotate to assist. How many times this season has an opponent broken down a Johnnie only to have Mitchell or Ejiofor step in and help, causing the opponent to drive to the basket and continue back out on the other side in fear of a shot being blocked?
Takeaway #3: Sanon and Jackson performed as advertised
Johnny fans were optimistic that the addition of guards Joson Sanon and Ian Jackson was going to bring electric scoring to the team from deep outside, as well as driving strong to the rim. Many prognosticators couldn’t stop praising them, yet both struggled from the onset. There was inconsistency on offense, taking rushed, pressured shots, and not assisting on the defensive boards. Against Butler, shots were falling, and the two sophomore scorers, after a slow start, came together at the end of the first half.
Was today’s performance a predictor of future success? With everything else on the team progressing, continued performance by Sanon, described by Rick Pitino as the most talented player on the team, and by Jackson, given a chance to establish his point guard credentials, could be the missing ingredient. Perhaps it is the one additional piece to compete with the talent of teams like UConn and opponents in the upcoming tournament.
Outlook
Captains Zuby Ejiofor and Dillon Mitchell often talk about the team’s focus on one game at a time. Any away game in the Big East is a challenge, so it is good to hear the team is not looking too far ahead. St. John’s sets its sights on DePaul, who are no longer the bottom-dwellers of the Big East. Staying focused on the Blue Demons should bring a positive performance, and that is where the focus needs to be. Taking Zuby Ejiofor’s post-game word for it, it appears to be that they are only focused on DePaul, and that should bring success.
